1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new and improved dessert premixes and mixes. More specifically, the invention relates to new dessert premixes and mixes preferably containing only natural products which are capable of being converted to frozen products having very attractive properties.
More particularly, the invention provides new dessert premixes and mixes based on natural products preferably containing no added sucrose or glucose and having attractive consumer properties, such as reduced calorie content and improved sweetness and taste. The new dessert mixes comprise dehydrated powders or aqueous solutions having a solids content made up of butterfat; nonfat dry milk solids, a portion of which are preferably whey protein concentrate; a sweetening agent consisting of at least 75% by weight fructose; and one or more stabilizers which preferably contain at least a stated amount of microcrystalline cellulose. A premix powder consisting of whey protein concentrate, fructose, stabilizers and other additives such as egg solids, flavoring agents and other milk solids is first prepared. The new mixes are prepared by combining the premix with appropriate amounts of milk and/or cream, heating the mixture to effect pasteurization and then homogenizing the mixture to form the desired dispersion. The new invention also provides valuable products, such as soft dessert ice cream mixes, hard ice cream, etc., prepared by subjecting the aforementioned solutions to a freezing process. In addition, the homogenized solutions may be dehydrated to form a powdered mix which can be rehydrated and then frozen.
2. Prior Art
A great variety of different types of dessert mixes which can be frozen to produce soft and hard ice cream products has been prepared in the past. Most of these products have been based on the use of sucrose and have a high caloric content. In the interest of weight reduction, attempts have been made to produce products by substituting materials for the sucrose, but the attempts, heretofore, have not been entirely satisfactory. In many cases, these products have been deficient in taste or body and texture, and either it has been difficult to freeze them, or retain their composition at the freezing temperatures, or too expensive to produce them for large scale consumption.
Arbuckle, Ice Cream, 3rd Edition, AVI Publishing Co., Inc., 1977, pp. 80-91, discloses various sources of sweetener solids for use in making ice cream. Various mono- and di-saccharides in numerous stages of refinement are listed. Arbuckle recites that authorities consider an acceptable zone of sweetness for ice cream to be between about 13 and 20% by weight concentration based on sucrose. Considering sucrose to have a sweetening value of 100, fructose has a relative sweetness of 173, and invert sugar (a mixture of glucose anf fructose obtained by the hydrolysis of sucrose) has a relative sweetness of 127. Glucose has a sweetening value of 74.
Because glucose and invert sugar (mixture of glucose and fructose) are monosaccharides or monosaccharide mixtures having a relative low molecular weight of 180.1, they tend to depress the freezing point of ice cream more than higher molecular weight sugars such as sucrose, lactose, maltose and converted corn syrup solids. Arbuckle states that this effect on freezing point limits the amount of monosaccharide in ice cream to about 25% of the total desired sugar. In other words, at least 75% of the sweetening agent must be a di- or oligosaccharide.
Moreover, the relative sweetness of monosaccharides does not necessarily transfer proportionately when substituted for sucrose. Arbuckle states that it requires 1.05 pounds of invert sugar to equal one pound of sucrose even though invert sugar is purportedly 1.27 times as sweet as sucrose. However, invert sugar contains 25% to 30% water. Arbuckle also states that it takes 1.25 pounds of glucose to replace one pound of sucrose. Therefore, due to the lowering of the freezing point and the lack of direct translation of sweetening powers, it is not recommended to prepare an ice cream having a monosaccharide as the only added sugar. Arbuckle states that invert sugar should not replace more than 33% of the sucrose when making ice cream and that dextrose, i.e., glucose, should not replace more than 35% of the sucrose. By the same reasoning, Arbuckle states that honey, which is a mixture of 17.5% moisture, 74.5% invert sugar (glucose and fructose), 2% sucrose, 2% dextrin and 3.8% miscellaneous matter requires 1.4 pounds to equal one pound of sucrose and should not replace more than 30% of sucrose in ice cream.
Arbuckle makes several sugar (sucrose)-saving suggestions to stretch a manufacturer's allotment of cane or beet sugar (sucrose), such as replacing sucrose with corn sugar or corn syrup solids; replacing part of the sugar with milk solids and inverting up to 1/3 of the sucrose. None of the suggestions teaches or even indicates that sucrose can be entirely replaced or even replaced by a majority of a monosaccharide such as fructose. In fact, Arbuckle states on page 38 that an appropriate ice cream sweetener can be obtained only by using some sucrose in the blend. The percentage of sweetening agent which can be blended with sucrose depends upon various factors such as desired sugar concentration, total solids content, effect on physical properties such as freezing point, viscosity and whipping ability and the inherent relative sweetening power of the sweetening agent. All illustrations and tables in Arbuckle indicate that at least two-thirds of the sweetening agent must be sucrose.
Koerver, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,315, teaches an ice cream with an increased lactose (milk sugar which is a disaccharide) content, and Decker, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,510,316 teaches a nonfat dairy dessert where part of the sugar (sucrose) is replaced by a less sweet corn syrup (28 DE). According to Arbuckle, about 80% of a low-conversion corn syrup is made up of polysaccharides consisting of three or more monosaccharides linked together.
However, none of the prior art surveyed suggests that sucrose can be replaced entirely, or even substantially, as a sweetener for ice cream by another sugar or blend of sugars.
Arbuckle states that about 25% of the MSNF (milk solids not fat) content of ice cream may be supplied by dried whey which is listed as being 13.4% protein (lactalbumin), 76.1% lactose and 10.5% mineral salts. In the same paragraph, MSNF is listed as 35.8% protein (27.1% casein and 8.7% lactalbumin), 54.4% lactose and 9.8% mineral salts. Arbuckle further states that a high quality, good flavored dry buttermilk can be used to replace all of the MSNF of a mix without affecting texture or taste. The use of sodium caseinate and low lactose skim milk is also mentioned. Sodium caseinate is said to produce a slight undesirable flavor in finished ice cream products. However, there is no mention that a product rich in whey proteins, such as a whey protein concentrate or isolated whey proteins, can be utilized at all.